Israel postpones settlement approval in bid to calm relations with U.S.

Israel postponed a vote Wednesday to authorize construction of additional Jewish settlement homes in East Jerusalem to avoid straining U.S.-Israeli relations, a local official said.

Israel recalls envoys from 2 states over UN resolution

Israel has summoned ambassadors from Senegal and New Zealand following their support for a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlement building in the occupied territories.

UN Security Council demands end to Israeli settlements after US abstains from vote

After the United States abstained from voting, the UN Security Council on Friday passed a resolution demanding Israel stop building settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, a reversal of the usual US practice of protecting Israel.

Egypt delays U.N. resolution aimed at Israeli settlements

Egypt on Thursday asked to delay a vote on a United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at halting Israeli settlement expansion on Palestinian land after President-elect Donald Trump called for the measure to be vetoed.

EU agrees labelling of Israel 'settlement' goods

The European Union published new guidelines on Wednesday for labeling products made in Israeli settlements, a move Brussels said was technical but Israel branded "discriminatory" and damaging to peace efforts with the Palestinians.

Israelis demand govt resignation after Jerusalem attack

Hundreds of Israelis demonstrated in west Jerusalem on Tuesday to demand the government's resignation in the wake of a deadly attack on a Jewish synagogue in which four Israelis were killed.

Israel will ‘never’ limit Jerusalem settlements (Avigdor Lieberman)

Israel will never agree to limit its construction activity in Occupied East Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday. “One thing should be clear: we will never accept the definition of building in Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem as settlement activity,” he said at a news conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Kerry, Abbas to meet for second day in Paris

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet on Thursday afternoon as part of Kerry's plan for a deal between Palestine and Israel.

The meeting comes after more than two hours of talks on Wednesday. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resumed last year after a nearly three-year break.

U.S. officials say they are trying to forge a "framework for negotiations" as a first step.

Kerry leaves Middle East without achieving framework...

   JERUSALEM, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry headed back to the United States on Monday after failing to create a framework for the Israeli-Palestinian talks.
Kerry did however claim that progress has been made in talks with both sides and several Israeli politicians, including Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Labor chief MK Yitzhak Herzog.

Kerry operated his shuttle diplomacy, with back and forth excursions between Jerusalem and Ramallah, but it seems that both sides are looking to blame the other party for the talks' deterioration rather than trying to kick-start them.

Kerry meets with Abbas in Ramallah...

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Ramallah on Saturday and met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian and Israeli officials have publicly differed on the future status of the West Bank's border with Jordan, where Israelis want a permanent security presence but Palestinians want a full withdrawal of Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers.

Kerry has said such an accord would narrow gaps between the sides and pave the way for a final deal when the nine-month period allotted the US-backed talks expires on April 29.

Proche-Orient: pessimisme ambiant avant une nouvelle mission de Kerry

La libération de 26 prisonniers palestiniens par Israël avant la nouvelle mission au Proche-Orient du secrétaire d'Etat John Kerry, la 10e depuis mars, n'a pas dissipé le pessimisme ambiant sur les chances de progrès dans les négociations de paix.

Ces libérations, survenues mardi avant l'aube, sont conformes aux engagements pris auprès des Etats-Unis et des Palestiniens par le Premier ministre israélien Benjamin Netanyahu de relâcher en quatre étapes un total de 104 détenus palestiniens afin de permettre la relance des négociations de paix qui ont repris fin juillet dernier.
Deux premiers contingents de prisonniers avaient été relâchés le 13 août et le 30 octobre. Le dernier groupe de Palestiniens doit être libéré en février.
Les festivités qui ont accompagné comme d'habitude la libération des prisonniers -considérés comme des "combattants héroïques" chez eux- ont été dénoncées en Israël.

Israel aprueba la anexión de los asentamientos del valle del Jordán

La Comisión de Asuntos Legislativos del Gobierno israelí aprobó hoy un proyecto de ley para la anexión de los asentamientos judíos en el valle del Jordán, territorio ocupado por Israel desde 1967.

La comisión, antesala a los proyectos de ley que el Gobierno presenta al parlamento, aprobó la propuesta por ocho votos a favor y tres en contra, los de los ministros Yair Lapid, Tzipi Livni y Yaacov Pery, informa la edición digital del diario 'Haaretz'.

Presentado por la diputada del Likud Miri Regev, del ala más derechista del partido Likud, que encabeza el primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu, el proyecto busca aplicar la legislación israelí en todas las colonias israelíes y en las carreteras que conducen a ellos, lo que de facto se traduciría en la anexión del territorio.

UN chief Ban slams Israeli plans to advance east J'lem, West Bank construction....

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday blasted an Israeli announcement made earlier in the day to advance settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Ban condemned as "contrary to international law" the move announced by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in conjunction with Israel's release early Wednesday morning of 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners.

He added that further Israeli building in areas over the Green Line constituted "an obstacle to peace".

However, Ban stated his appreciation for Israel's undertaking the "difficult step" of releasing the second batch of pre-Oslo prisoners amid "deep domestic opposition" as a gesture for continuing peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.

Thousands rally in Israel to remember slain PM Rabin.

AFP - Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday to mourn peace-seeking prime minister Yitzhak Rabin on the 18th anniversary of his assassination by a Jewish extremist.

The demonstrators were mainly young people representing a wide political spectrum but protesting against Israeli radicals opposed to peace with the Palestinians, an AFP reporter said.
The demonstrators carried portraits of Rabin -- who was assassinated after addressing a rally in the same square on November 4, 1995 -- and banners with slogans against racism and intolerance.